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Tag: King Kong

Episode 2: The Tourists vs. ‘King Kong’ (1933)

Published October 9, 2019

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Our “Kong Quest” begins! 😛 Nathan is joined by his core group of Monster Island Tourists—Nick Hayden & Timothy Deal of the Derailed Trains of Thought podcast and Joe & Joy Metter—to discuss one of the greatest movies ever made: 1933’s King Kong. What’s interesting is none of these Tourists had seen this classic film before coming to the Island, so you’ll hear their fresh reactions, opinions, and analyses to the Eighth Wonder’s first and greatest outing. Listen as each of them compete for best (or worst?) joke of the podcast (“No monkeying around!” says Nick). Along the way Jimmy From NASA gets sassy with the Tourists and has to corral a dog dubbed “Teddy Kong,” who keeps trying to make a cameo during the Toku Talk. The Toku Topic for this episode is the Great Depression since the film was made and released at the height of that period and indirectly mentions it several times.

Be sure to check out the latest episode of Nick and Tim’s podcast, Derailed Trains of Thought, where they visited Monster Island to discuss destruction as a story element with Nathan as a guest host. Their podcast is marvelous, and Nathan has appeared on multiple episodes.

Timestamps
Intro: 0:00-4:42
Entertaining Info Dump: 4:42-12:06
Toku Talk: 12:06-1:21:27
Toku Topic: 1:21:27-1:54:52
Outro: 1:54:52-end

Read Jimmy’s Notes for corrections, riffs, and more info on this episode!

#JimmyFromNASALives

© 2019 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading

“Depression, You Say? Check Those Safety Nets” by Charles Duhigg (The New York Times)

King Kong Wiki Articles:
            –Wikipedia
            –Gojipedia
            –Wikizilla

Kaijuvision Radio, Episode 2: Godzilla Origins – King Kong (1933) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

King Kong (1933) Review – Kong-A-Thon Episode 1 (D Man1954)

King Kong: History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson by Ray Morton

Kong Unbound: The Cultural Impact, Pop Mythos, and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend (edited by Karen Haber)

Kong Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island by John LeMay

“Prostitution – The Great Depression”

Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture (2nd edition) by Cynthia Erb

Wikipedia Articles:
            –Great Depression
            –Gold Standard
            –Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
            –New Deal
            –Reflation
            –Roaring Twenties
            –Timeline of the Great Depression

“What Sex was Like During the Great Depression” by Melissa Sartone

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Meet the Tourists!

Published October 2, 2019

With the first big film discussion episode next week—which begins our chronological coverage of King Kong’s filmography with the 1933 classic—I thought now would be a good opportunity to introduce you all to the core group of Monster Island Tourists who will be guest-hosting with me on the podcast.

Ladies, gentlemen, and kaiju lovers of all ages, meet Nick, Tim, Joe, and Joy!

Nick (left) and Tim (right).

Nick Hayden and Timothy Deal are the co-hosts of Derailed Trains of Thought, the premiere podcast on storytelling for the creator and the consumer. I’ve known both of them since my college days. Nick is an accomplished writer (and you should be reading everything he writes!), and Tim studied film in grad school. I’ve collaborated with them on several writing projects like Children of the Wells and, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been a frequent guest on their podcast. Be sure to check out the links to their sites!

Joe and Joy.

Joe and Joy Metter are another pair of longtime friends of mine. I also met Joe back in my college days. Joe loves anime and Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (which is probably why we got along as well as we did), and Joy thinks she lives in a musical half the time and will randomly break out into song. The two of them just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary.

These four will be on the show most often, but they won’t be the only ones. Here’s a tentative list of the other Tourists who will be joining me during the podcast’s extended first season:

Eric Anderson (founder of Nerd Chapel)
Ben Avery (writer and podcaster)
Dallas Mora (co-founder of Geek Devotions)
John LeMay (kaiju scholar and author)
Daniel DiManna (creator/author of the Godzilla Novelization Project)
Bex Smith (host of the Redeemed Otaku podcast)

There are a few other names on my back-up list and my season two list. It’ll never be boring on this show with this lively group of newcomers and veteran fans!

See you next week for King Kong (1933)!

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Episode 1: Welcome…to Monster Island!

Published September 25, 2019

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Listen as Nathan Marchand, co-creator and season one co-host of the Kaijuvision Radio, regales you with the origin story of his new podcast. It includes a vacation to a resort on the fabled Monster Island (formerly Monsterland), where he met his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA (who miraculously survived the infamous War in Space), and got a new job as the curator of the Island’s film vault. Between bantering sessions with his detail-obsessed, fact-checking interrupter of a producer, Nathan explains the podcast’s philosophy of film appreciation and lays the groundwork for the upcoming episodes.

And what will Nathan, Jimmy, and their many guests be discussing first? The filmography of Monster Island’s other most famous resident: KING KONG!

Hold onto your butts!

The Monster Island Film Vault: A podcast seeking entertainment and enlightenment through tokusatsu.

Check out the epic three-hour KVR episode on Shin Godzilla:
Episode 37: Shin Godzilla (2016) (Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami/Fukushima Meltdowns)

Check out Jimmy’s Notes, the companion blog series to each episode of The Monster Island Film vault!

#JimmyFromNASALives

© 2019 Nathan Marchand/Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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From the Vault: MIFV’s Tentative Season 1 Schedule

Published September 4, 2019
Logo by Tyler Sowles.

With the premiere of The Monster Island Film Vault just a few weeks away, I thought I’d give you a preview of the upcoming (extended) first season. Since I’m starting in September 2019, this season will go until December 2020. Future seasons will start in January and run through the entire year.

The theme for this season is twofold: 1) Cover the other big names in the kaiju genre who aren’t Godzilla, and 2) pick up where I left off on Kaijuvision Radio. To that end, the primary episodes will focus on the likes of King Kong and Mothra, among others, and the minisodes will cover the films discussed in season two of KVR (I’d already the research before I left, so I figure I may as well use it).

September 2019
Welcome…to Monster Island! (minisode)

October 2019
King Kong (1933)
The Godzilla Anime Trilogy (mini-analysis)

November 2019
Son of Kong
John LeMay Presents King Kong vs. Frankenstein and Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla (minisode)

December 2019
King Kong Escapes
Half-Human (mini-analysis)

January 2020
King Kong (1976)
King Kong Lives

February 2020
King Kong (2005)
Kong: Skull Island

March 2020
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) (mini-analysis)
Godzilla vs. Kong

April 2020
The Mysterians (mini-analysis)
Varan the Unbelievable (mini-analysis)

May 2020
3 Treasures (mini-analysis)
Battle in Outer Space (mini-analysis)

June 2020
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Last War (mini-analysis)

July 2020
Rebirth of Mothra
Gorath (mini-analysis)

August 2020
Rebirth of Mothra II
Matango (mini-analysis)

September 2020
Rebirth of Mothra III
Atragon (mini-analysis)

October 2020
Daimajin
Dogora, the Space Monster (mini-analysis)

November 2020
Return of Daimajin
Frankenstein Conquers the World (mini-analysis)

December 2020
Daimajin Strikes Back
War of the Gargantuas (mini-analysis)

You may have noticed that I’m skipping 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. That’s because I covered it on KVR. My opinions on it are unchanged, and the Toku Topic I would’ve discussed would be the same. I recommend listening to it now or in conjunction with the new show (KVR, Episode 8: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) (The Japanese Economic Miracle [The Golden 60s]). In place of that, I’ll have kaiju author John LeMay on to talk about two lost Kong films associated with King Kong vs. Godzilla that he wrote about in his new book, Kong Unmade.

As I said, this is tentative. I’ve already had to change it once to accommodate the new release date of Godzilla vs. Kong (hence why there are several months in a row with full-length episodes followed by several with minisodes). While I intend to keep the main episode schedule set, the minisodes will change depending on how much listener feedback I receive (they’ll be answered on the air) and any interviews/content I get at conventions like G-Fest.

If all goes well, I have a second season planned. What will it be about? Stay tuned!

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Episode 0 – Promo Trailer

Published July 12, 2019
Artwork by Tyler Sowles.

A podcast seeking entertainment and enlightenment through tokusatsu.

Join host/curator Nathan Marchand and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA (who miraculously survived the infamous War in Space), as they and a rotating roster of Monster Island’s best and brightest Tourists dive deep into the films starring the Island’s most famous kaiju residents!

This is a film appreciation podcast that chronologically and critically examines films from the kaiju and tokusatsu genres. Episodes rotate between round table discussions that feature the film’s production info and an explanation of its historical and cultural contexts; and “mini-sodes” that will include interviews, comedy sketches, and audio essays, among other things. Episodes will drop the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, starting in September 2019. Listeners have a fun and fascinating journey ahead of them.

First up: The Eighth Wonder of the World!

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